Contact Info

Reading Placement

Students are placed
into Developmental Reading & Study Skills (RDG: 050) based on their Verbal
SAT score. Scores below 425 will result in placement into the Developmental
Reading course.

Developmental Placement

A developmental reading
placement requires you to pass coursework designed to improve your skills.
Students must earn a grade of “C” or higher to satisfy the developmental
reading placement.

See the Options
Based on Results tab on our website and click, Reading
Options for information
regarding remediation options prior to beginning classes at Ship.

The Developmental Placement Challenge Test

Students with Verbal
SAT scores of 425 and below who wish to challenge their placement have the
option to take the Reading Placement Challenge Test, the Nelson Denny Reading
Test. Students can only take the Reading Placement Challenge Test at
Shippensburg University. Alternate testing sites are not available for this
test.

The Nelson Denny is a
timed test (35 minutes) composed of two sub-tests, Vocabulary and
Comprehension. The Vocabulary section consists of 80 items and has a time limit
of 15 minutes. The Comprehension section contains reading passages and 38
questions to be completed in 20 minutes.

Nelson-Denny’s
purpose is to identify students who have difficulty in reading, to gauge levels
of progress after remediation, and to predict future potential for academic
success.

If your SAT scores
placed you into a Developmental Reading course, and you feel uncertain about
your reading skills, it is recommended that you take a Developmental Reading
course rather than the challenge test.